The purpose of this research study is to investigate how nurses can best help people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) follow their HIV treatment plans.
There is concern that HIV positive SMI persons may be a greater risk for poor treatment adherence, increasing risk for poorer outcomes and development of treatment resistance virus, and also placing others at greater risk. Involvement of advance practice nurses has been previously shown to improve outcomes for persons with HIV/AIDS.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
273
Experimental participants will receive an integrated intervention tailored to the communication and comprehension of the individual, and will include memory aid devices, education regarding side effects and other treatment aspects, and active community outreach. For those who fail to adhere using the basic intervention, a treatment cascade that increases in intensity will be implemented. Using 80% adherence as a target, the cascade will include involvement of family and significant others in prompting participants through use of beepers, cellphones, and for those who still fall short of 80% adherence, directly observed therapy.
Center for Mental Health Services and Policy Research
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
How to best help people with serious mental illness follow HIV treatment regimens
Time frame: baseline, 3, 12 and 24 months
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